LITCHFIELD >> Niraj Patel, dressed in a gray suit with his hands and feet shackled, pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges stemming from his alleged involvement in the murder of a 23-year-old Sharon marijuana dealer last year following a robbery gone awry.

Patel, 26, mostly stared at the floor and uttered only three words — “Yes, your honor — when asked by a judge if he understood he was waiving his right to a probable-cause hearing in Litchfield Superior Court. Patel, of Partridge Road, Warren, is accused of hatching the robbery plan that police say led to the murder of Lucas Vitalis on Aug. 6, 2012 at his mother’s Cornwall Road home in Sharon.

Patel’s alleged co-conspirators, his cousin, Hiral Patel, 25, also of Warren, and Michael Calabrese, 27, of Branford, also pleaded not guilty to charges that they helped Patel orchestrate a “fake” drug deal to help secure money for an attorney needed for a drug case.

The three are facing felony charges of murder, home invasion, first-degree kidnapping with a firearm, first-degree robbery and hindering prosecution. Calabrese, still jailed at New Haven Correctional Facility for violating terms of his parole, wasn’t present at Thursday’s hearing, and his attorney entered a plea on his behalf.

Police painted a picture in a 26-page arrest affidavit of a botched robbery that resulted in Vitalis’ death after the Patels and Calabrese initially plotted “to rob Luke” when they discovered he had a large sum of drug money at his home.

Patel is portrayed as the mastermind, desperate for cash after getting arrested in June 12, 2012, by Torrington police on drug-related charges. Police searched his car and confiscated a small amount of marijuana, scale, vacuum and more than $12,000.

In the lead-up to the home invasion, Niraj Patel allegedly purchased a handgun from a New Milford man and was undeterred after Calabrese told police he rejected an initial proposition, saying he’d just give “other people to help him do it.”

At around 6 p.m. on Aug. 6, 2012, minutes after Vitalis and Niraj Patel spoke by phone, Niraj Patel allegedly dropped off Hiral Patel and Calabrese near the residence. They waited for Vitalis to finish cutting the grass before pulling bandanas over their faces and barging into the residence. They bound Vitalis’ mother, Rita, in the kitchen with zip ties, before Calabrese, wielding a .40 Ruger, headed upstairs to confront Vitalis. Rita said she heard struggling, which ended when Calabrese allegedly fired three shots, striking Vitalis twice.

The pair fled on foot into the woods and eventually met up with Niraj Patel at the Sharon Audubon Society. The men headed to an isolated, unlit part of Warren, on Wolfe Road, five miles from Niraj Patel’s residence, and burned sneakers and clothing, police said.

Rita, who told police she noticed a dark sports-utility vehicle pull up to the residence before the robbery, couldn’t identify the assailants in her 911 call. But police believe they have indisputable evidence that points to the men’s motive: a surreptitious recording between Calabrese and another inmate at the New Haven Correctional Facility in which Calabrese admits to murdering Vitalis to help Niraj Patel secure money for his defense. Calabrese had originally told investigators he hung out at a friend’s house on the night of the murder. Hiral’s mother had told police her son was at work at the family’s liquor store until 9 p.m. the night of the murder, but a coworker said he never showed up.

Police said Calabrese laid out, in detail, the events leading to Vitalis’ death in a taped conversation handed over by New Haven authorities.

In that conversation, police said, Calabrese, armed with a .40 Ruger, admitted fatally shooting Vitalis after he lunged at him with a knife. He then stole $70 and marijuana before he and Hiral Patel hurriedly left the residence without the larger money stash, which police discovered later.

Police have also turned up cell phone records and other evidence, such as several text messages and phone calls between Niraj Patel and Vitalis “consistent with coordinating a drug deal,” cell phone GPS that allegedly puts the trio in the area on the night of the murder and shoe prints at the home that matched the burned ones, according to the affidavit. Hiral Patel’s attorney, Leonard Crone, referred to cell phone tower evidence as “junk science” and said this was “one of the weakest murder cases I’ve ever been involved with.”

Forensic analysis of a computer seized from Niraj Patel’s house on Sept. 19, 2012 turned up Google queries in which an unidentified user searched for “Can you see where a bullet was purchased?” and a map with directions to Bostwick Place at Grove Street in New Milford, believed to be near the residence of the man, Brendan “Brent” Moore, who allegedly sold Niraj Patel the gun, according to the affidavit.

The plot to rob Vitalis was hatched when the three men met at Patel’s home, according to a statement from Calabrese, who originally denied being in Warren or Sharon the day of the murder.

“Niraj hinted that he had a plan to get some money,” said Calabrese, who was hesitant to cooperate with authorities for fear of his life. “I knew it was something serious because he would not talk about it over the phone.”

Not wanting to be identified by Vitalis or his mother, Niraj Patel asked Hiral Patel and Calabrese to storm the residence, flash a gun and get the money. Calabrese said he declined to participate in the plot, left the residence and went to a friend’s house, where he remained with his friend’s sister. According to police, that woman, Kate Santella, contradicted Calabrese, saying she was at work.

Calabrese claimed he didn’t know what happened the night of the murder, piecing it together through conversations with Shyam Patel, who has also been charged with tampering with physical evidence and hindering prosecution.

Calabrese said he subsequently met with Shyam Patel, who said that Niraj and Hiral Patel and “their boy” went to Vitalis’ home the day of the murder. A struggle broke out when Vitalis tried to seize the weapon, discharging a round that struck him.

Calabrese said he smelled the “odor of bleach” in Shyam Patel’s vehicle and asked him about it, with Shyam Patel replying, “Better to be safe than sorry.” Police now believe that Calabrese, acting on “self-preservation,” fabricated parts of his account in “futile attempts at providing some truth with some lies” and deter authorities from making an arrest.

The murder weapon, disposed in several inches of mud, wasn’t recovered. Niraj Patel apparently switched cars, picking up the men in his father’s white Nissan Pathfinder, according to published accounts.

Police allege Prabhaker arranged for his son to drop off the vehicle in a parking lot in Brewster, N.Y. When they got there, Niraj Patel was gone, picked up by a friend, and police said Prabhakar was “evasive” and wouldn’t disclose his son’s whereabouts.

Police searched the Nissan Pathfinder, and discovered it had been scrubbed and “gave off the odor of cleaning products,” according to the affidavit.

Niraj Patel, Hiral Patel and Calabrese are all being held on $1 million bonds or more, and Shyam Patel is released on $50,000 bond.

Niraj Patel will next be in court on Dec. 10, Hiram Patel on Dec. 17 and Calabrese on Dec. 3.